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“The Affordable Care Act was supposed to be fully operational by Jan. 1 of this year. But here we are, two weeks into 2014, and the administration continues to struggle to implement the law’s burdensome mandate,” Cochran said. “The law is not living up to the promises made by its supporters.”

Many of his constituents are paying twice as much as before, he said. Others can no longer see their trusted doctors. Millions who were told they could keep their plans have been forced to find new ones — and the extent of the damage is still unknown, he said.

“The administration’s enrollment numbers don’t paint a pretty picture,” Cochran said. They don’t detail how many people whose plans were canceled have purchased new ones on either a federal or state health insurance exchange, nor do they specify how many enrollees have actually paid their premiums as the final step to securing coverage. “There is ample reason to be skeptical that those numbers will improve substantially,” he said.

The law should be repealed and replaced with a bipartisan solution that won’t cost billions of dollars, he urged. “In the spirit of the new year, we should resolve to help make our health care system more user-friendly and affordable,” Cochran concluded.